


Birds of a Feather

by AceSparkleGirl



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Best Friends, Birds, Childhood Friends, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Summer, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 04:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14371242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceSparkleGirl/pseuds/AceSparkleGirl
Summary: “yo jer!”“come over dude i have biiiiiig news”“pleeeeeeease its urgent :(“--Michael Mell has a surprise for his best friend, and Jeremy is not particularly amused.





	Birds of a Feather

“ _ yo jer! _ ” 

 

“ _ come over dude i have biiiiiig news _ ” 

 

“ _ pleeeeeeease its urgent :( _ “

 

Michael Mell huffs, tapping his foot beneath his desk before he pushes away from it, letting his desk chair take him spinning in a little circle. 

 

“ _ if you dont respond im selling all of your clothes here to charity”  _

 

It's not unheard of for him to double-text, sure, but he's positive that he's about to set a new world record for the most texts sent in a row without a response. It's a Thursday in the middle of summer, for fuck's sake, and the fact that Jeremy isn't responding can only boil down to one of two things. 

 

One, he's lost in a forest somewhere with no technology and no way home. 

 

Or two, he's sleeping in, like a chump. 

 

Michael huffs, eyes flickering over to the corner before he groans and opens up the dial pad on his phone, finger jamming into the ‘2’ for a speed-dial before he holds the old flip-phone to his ear.

 

It rings once, twice, and by the time it starts ringing a third time, he's just about to hang up the phone before there's a click, and—

 

“Hello?” It's Jeremy, all right, and he doesn't sound groggy. 

 

“Jeremy!” Michael grins, throwing a fist in the air. “Dude! I've been trying to get in touch with you for—” 

 

“I  _ know _ , I heard my phone going off for, like, ages. I was in the shower!”

 

Michael pauses, lips pursing before he huffs. “This sucks,” he decides softly, blowing a raspberry. “So you haven't seen any of them?” 

 

“Uh, no? I can— I can check, if you want, but…” 

 

“No! No, no, it's all good, it's totally okay! Just— come over? You're not doing anything, right? No plans with anyone?”

 

“Michael,” Jeremy laughs over the phone, and Michael's face lights up red before he just smiles. “Dude, you're my only friend. I can head over in a minute, okay? Let me just tell my dad, and—”

 

“Oh, awesome! I'll be here, then. My mom's home; she might stop you in the kitchen, actually, and try to talk your ear off, so I'll go wait on the front porch. Okay? I'll see you in five, right?”

 

Jeremy laughs again, and Michael's smile splits into a grin. “Yeah, man,” Jeremy says back, and Michael can't stop bouncing. “See you in five.” 

 

“You're the  _ best _ .” Michael snorts before he claps his phone shut and shoves it into the pocket of his shorts, hardly speaking a word as he darts downstairs and heads for the front door. 

 

***

 

Just as promised, Michael watches Jeremy start down the road to his house exactly five minutes after the phone-call ended. (At least, that's what his phone tells him every time he flips it open to check, and a smiling picture of the two of them from the carnival at school last year with their cheeks pressed together lets him know that he is, in fact, on time. And he has no reason to distrust that.) Without hesitation, he stands up on the porch step and beams, waving a hand way up in the air at him. He notices Jeremy squint before he smiles and waves back, and Michael just grins wider. (And he teases  _ him _ for needing glasses.)

 

By the time he's approaching the porch, Michael's hopping down two steps and tripping into him, grabbing onto Jeremy's shoulders for support. 

 

“Dude!” 

 

“Dude,” Jeremy echoes back, snorting as he reaches to push Michael's glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “What's up?” 

 

Michael lets go of his shoulders and grins, wide and lop-sided, before he just grabs for his wrist. “It's a surprise, Jer, c’mon! Les’go!” 

 

There's a moment where they merely stand there before Jeremy laughs and nods, going to grab for Michael's hand in response. “Okay, okay! Lead the way, Captain, I'm here.”

 

Michael smiles to himself before he nods and straightens up, clearing his throat as he turns to slip back inside. The air-conditioning hits him like a rock as soon as the door is open. “I will!” He grins, laughing. “Hey, were you planning on coming over anyway?” he asks, motioning idly to his wildly dried hair as he pulls the door closed behind him. 

 

“Oh. Yeah, actually— dad gave the ‘If you're gonna leave the house and look at least half-decent, you're gonna shower’ speech. Even when I argue that it's just you, it doesn't work anymore.” 

 

“Aw, shit, we been found out, huh?” Michael teases, smiling as he leads them past his mother in the living room. Jeremy waves at her, and he just smiles wide, whisking him upstairs behind hum. 

 

“Mmh, yeah! Isn't it ridiculous? I mean, it's just your house, down the block, and—” 

 

“Oh,  _ just  _  my house, huh?” Michael jabs back, and he can tell by the look on Jeremy's face that—

 

“I didn't mean it like that, Mikey, come on!” Jeremy huffs, pouting before he goes to give Michael's hand a squeeze. 

 

Michael squeezes his in response before he lets go and takes a step back. “I know.  Here— wait a sec?” He watches as Jeremy steps back and nod before he beams. “Okay! Thank you. The  _ best _ .”

 

Jeremy rolls his eyes and laughs before Michael goes to slip back into his bedroom, and he goes back to the corner, pulling the blanket gently off of the bird cage. A bright, colorful mess of wings greets him quickly, chittering and chirping away as he undoes the latches of the cage and reaches in. 

 

“Okay, dude, c’mere,” he murmurs softly, gentle as he holds a finger out to the bird. He's pecked at once before he takes his perch, and Michael pulls him out gently, grinning at him. The bird chirps back at him, and Michael grins wider. 

 

“Okay,” he calls out. “Jeremy, come here!”

 

The door creaks open behind him, and as soon as it does, Michael's turning around with the little bird perched on his finger. 

 

“Holy crap.”

 

Michael bounces a little on the heels of his feet, grinning. “I know! Right?” 

 

“Holy  _ crap. _ ”

 

Michael watches as Jeremy grins and moves closer. 

 

“Is that, like— is it real?” 

 

“He's real, Jer! He's a sun conure— look at him!” Michael laughs, going to nudge a finger gently against the bird's cheek, and it chirps at him in response.

 

“Oh, wow, okay. Wow.” Jeremy snorts, tilting his head. “What's his—” 

 

Michael chimes in before Jeremy can finish. “Bob Marley Junior!”

 

He can practically see the disappointment settle on Jeremy's face before he raises an eyebrow up. “...I thought— Didn't you always say that when you got an animal, you'd name it like… Pepsi. Or Noodle, or something?”

 

Michael rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “When we were kids, yeah! But those are  _ baby _ names, Jer. We're big boys now.”

 

Jeremy blinks at him, silent before he just smiles. “...We're 14, Mikey.”

 

“Big boys, Jer.” 

 

Jeremy laughs again, smiling wide— it's all teeth, and Michael tries to hold back telling him that he looks like a shark. He doesn't. It just makes Jeremy laugh harder, and Michael's positive that his heart turns into mush at the sound of it. 

 

“I  _ can't  _ believe you'd name a bird after Bob Marley,” he manages once the laughing dies down. “You're so— you're  _ so _ —” 

 

“I'm so Michael!” Michael just beams, holding his finger out to him, Bob Marley Jr. still perched expertly on top. “See, but I named— come on, let me show you, okay?” The bird chirps back at him, and he smiles, pecking a little kiss to his cheek. He's pecked in response, and Jeremy snorts, going to sit at the edge of Michael's bed. 

 

“Doesn't that hurt?” 

 

“What, the pecks? Naw, man, he's just a baby.” 

 

Michael watches Jeremy roll his eyes, but he just smiles at it and goes to turn on his iPod. He turns it up a little bit, and Bob Marley Jr. seems to look around before he starts bobbing to the music, and Michael grins. 

 

“Oh,  _ sick _ — Jer, see, he's doing it! Oh, man, he's so cute.”

 

“Is he… dancing?”

 

“He's dancing, man!” Michael starts swaying a little, smiling wide at the little bird. “He's so cute! Dude, he just likes to dance with me. It's our thing now, I think.” He laughs, looking to Bob Marley Jr. as he dances along, chittering back at him. 

 

Jeremy just watches him, and Michael looks up after a moment, meeting his gaze. “Is something up?” 

 

“Is this the big surprise?” Jeremy asks softly. “Just wondering. Is it?” 

 

“Yeah, dude! Of course it is. I was really pumped about this little guy— It took me months to convince Nanay to let me get one, and she caved, and we got him last night, and—”

 

“I am  _ never _ calling him Bob Marley Junior.”

 

“Yeah, well, you  _ just  _ did, so—” 

 

“Oh, no, nope! That doesn't count, dork. I'm not calling him that.”

 

Michael huffs and rolls his eyes at him. “Why are you unabashedly the worst human being in all of history? You can't call a fellow pal by his name, just ‘cuz you have a weird thing against it?” 

 

“I'm calling him Boma.” 

 

“ _ Boma _ ?” Michael snorts, absolutely incredulous as he turns to put the bird back in its cage. “You absolutely can't be serious.” 

 

“I absolutely can be,” Jeremy shoots back, going to Michael's computer to change the music to some abstract video game soundtrack. He thinks it might be from an old Mario game, but he's not focused enough right now to tell. He just knows that had anyone else tried to pull that, they wouldn't have heard the end of it. But this is Jeremy, and Jeremy's different. He's… Jeremy. And Jeremy's his best friend. 

 

Michael smiles over to him after closing the cage, and Jeremy takes a second before he looks back and grins. “Hey,” he muses, and Michael waves before going to sit on his bed. 

 

“Hey,” is Michael's response, leaning over to grab his old Gameboy from his nightstand. Jeremy's fast to run over, scrambling onto the bed and leaning into Michael's side. 

 

“What are you playing?” 

 

Michael just snorts and nudges him in the ribs gently, laughing a little. “I can't play anything with you taking up my playing arm, Jer.”

 

Jeremy huffs, rolling his eyes before he nudges him back. “Both your arms are playing arms, dummy,” he sneers, glancing over to the bird cage. “...You done with Boma?” 

 

“ _ Yes _ , for now, I'm done with Bob Marley Junior. He deserves downtime, too.”

 

Jeremy nods, chin coming to rest against Michael's shoulder. “Cool. So— gaming, then. Wanna at least go sit outside, maybe? It's real warm out today. And I've got at least seven bucks in my pocket, in case the ice cream man decides to spin around the neighborhood today.”

 

Michael pauses before he shrugs, looking to Jeremy with a little smile. “ _ You _ wanna go outside, man?” There's a moment before Jeremy nods, and Michael's grinning before he can help himself. “You could've said so, Jeremy.”

 

“I didn't put on shorts because I wanted to stay inside,” Jeremy mumbles, sticking his tongue out before he shoves Michael gently. 

 

“No,” Michael mumbles, putting his Gameboy back down. “But you probably would've put ‘em on either way.” He goes to stand up, stretching his arms up before he offers a hand to Jeremy. “Let's go, dude.”

 

Michael watches as Jeremy's eyes flicker up to him and focus before he smiles and nods, taking his hand and pulling himself to his feet. 

 

“Let's go,” Jeremy echoes back, sticking his tongue out at him. “...Race you to the front porch.” 

 

Michael just grins in response, and before he can think to speak anymore, Jeremy's dashing downstairs before him. They wind up tying— Michael's mother had called out for them to slow down before anyone injured themselves. They did, of course, and Michael decides on a tie as they shove through the screen door to go outside.

 

“You just don't want to admit defeat,” Jeremy muses, and Michael watches as he lowers himself to sit on a step. Michael just smiles and lowers himself beside him. 

 

“You can't lose to a teammate, Jeremy,” he shoots back, and out comes the Gameboy, old copy of Pokémon Red already in the slot. “...Help me get to the Elite Four? I'm almost there.” Jeremy just laughs, leaning into his side. For a moment, Michael’s absolutely positive that every day this summer could go like this, and he wouldn’t feel like it was a waste. He smiles a little, leaning back into Jeremy as he hears him speak in response. 

 

“Sure,” Jeremy mumbles, looking over to him. “I mean, what else are friends for?” 

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw [ this video](http://tearezicryrope.tumblr.com/post/172927792127/agnosticalchemist-birbfriends-geromanly) on tumblr of a sun conure dancing to some music and literally as soon as I saw it my brain went "Michael Mell has a sun conure and they dance together and Michael likes to talk to him". So then I sent that to Ren (who is absolutely wonderful and fantastic and I love him, shout out to Ren "Ukhoshekh" MySon for being the bomb dot com) and he goes "He names it Bob Marley Junior." So then I went ahead and wrote it because when I lay in bed at 3 AM, that's just what happens! 
> 
> Anyway, that's how this fun little pointless fic about 14 year old Michael and his bird and his flip-phone, and Jeremy happened. They're best friends. I love them. I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
